Volunteers turn out for Arbor Day tree planting at Riverside Park

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- There will be a lot more trees the next time you visit Grand Rapids’ Riverside Park.

About 125 volunteers participated in an Arbor Day tree planting, sponsored by the Friends of Grand Rapids Parks, on Friday, April 26 at Riverside Park. The group plans to plant nearly 500 trees during the next year and a half through a program sponsored by the Great Lakes Restoration.

The Grand Rapids non-profit is planning to plant nearly 100 of those trees throughout the weekend, beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 27.

The Arbor Day Foundation honored the Friends of Grand Rapids Parks for its launch of the Urban Forest Project, which includes a crowd-sourced map that the public can plot the locations of trees.